(Book One) Do you ever feel as if your life has yet to begin? I've been alive for almost seventeen years now and absolutely nothing has ever happened to me. Not until I met a girl who kick-started my life. She introduced me to love, sex, scandal, ex...
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Ari drives us to a club in Snobsdale. A city where the water is sparkled, the streets polished, and a housekeeper is assigned to each floor of the mansion. We arrive and pull up to valet. Out the car window, luxurious glass and stone buildings line the streets. I wasn't sure we could afford to park here, let alone afford to get in.
"Ari, are you sure about this?" I ask.
She smiles and says. "Of course."
A young man in a bow tie opens the door for Ari. He puts a hand out for her, which she takes. I open my own door, grateful to open it myself and step out of the car. Ari gives him her best smiles. His eyes grow as big as saucers.
"Park it close." She says.
She lets her hand linger in his longer than necessary. He nods eagerly and a giant grin spreads across his face. She politely pulls her hand free from his and links her arm around my elbow. He stands in front of us motionless his eyes never leaving Ari, and then she puts her hand out.
"Ticket, please?" She asks.
He frantically hands it to her with a look of embarrassment.
The valet is only a few dozen feet from the entrance, and a long white carpet leads up to the roped entrance. To the side, a medium-sized line of people are waiting to get inside. I start to head towards it, but Ari yanks me in the opposite direction. I'm thankful for the years of ballet, Ari is stronger than she looks, and I nearly fall over.
She leans in close and whispers, "We don't stand in lines."
Ari leads us toward a set of ropes being guarded by a hulking man in a black suit. He'd been watching us ever since we arrived. As we approach, he unlatches the ropes and motions us past. We glide past without a word.
Feeling guilty I look over at the crowd of people waiting. A few women in the front throw me the stink eye and I avert my gaze. We reach the door of the club and a bouncer asks for our IDs. Ari reaches into her purse and pulls out both fakes. I'd been too nervous to carry them. He glances down at the IDs then hands them back.
"Free well drinks for ladies till eleven." He says.
I don't bother asking what he means, I know Ari will explain later. He pulls out a stamp and Ari puts her hand out. I mimic her actions. He stamps both of our hands and he reaches back to opens the doors to the club. And we are in. No questions asked, no suspicion, and no cover charge.
We'd arrived in style. Would it have been as easy to get into the club if we'd pulled up in the Jeep? Would they have looked at our ID's longer? Noticed we looked younger than twenty-one? Was this Ari's secret to getting her way? Confidence and swagger.
The nightclub isn't at all what I expected. Though to be honest, I'd only seen movies as reference. It isn't a dark crowded space with music pumping loudly and sweaty bodies dancing erotically. The music plays softly in the background, loud enough to fill the gaps in conversation but without the need to shout. The lighting in the room is warm neither too dark or bright, but somewhere in the middle.
